DIGITAL X-RAYS

At Comfort and Care Dentistry taking digital X-Rays is common during appointments. Digital X-Rays are essential to your dental care treatment plan because they reveal what is going on beneath the exterior of your teeth and gums, making X-Rays a great preventative and diagnostic tool for Dr. Naylor and associates.

Digital X-Rays allow Dr. Naylor to: 

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• Detect cavities

• Determine the health of bone around a tooth

• Look at tooth roots

• Detect periodontal disease

• See developing teeth

Why use digital X-Rays over traditional X-Ray film?

We use digital X-Rays because these X-Rays provide a digital image instantly, while traditional dental X-Ray film takes time to be developed. With digital X-Rays there are instant images, making it easy to retake an X-Ray if necessary. Additionally, digital X-Rays emit much less radiation than traditional X-Ray film, and they provide a higher-quality image than traditional methods. These digital copies are stored in your dental file, which makes them very easy to transfer to another dental office if needed. 

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Types of digital X-Rays

There are two main types of digital X-Rays: intraoral and extraoral. Intraoral X-Rays are taken inside the mouth, and extraoral are taken outside. Intraoral are the most commonly used digital X-Rays because they provide a high level of detail, revealing a lot about your teeth, bone, and other tissues in the mouth. X-Rays can be taken at various angles to get views of different areas of the mouth.

Below are some of the different X-Ray views that may be taken of your mouth:

• Periapical: View of an entire tooth, including the supporting bone structure

• Panoramic: View of all of your teeth, including your jaw, sinuses, jaw joints, and nasal area

• Bite-Wing: View of the upper and lower teeth in the back of the mouth

•  Occlusal: View of the bite of your upper and lower jaw, typically used to show children’s tooth development

Are digital X-Rays harmful?

As mentioned, digital X-Rays do expose you to a minimal level of radiation. However, today’s technology allows the X-Ray beam to be extremely focused so that other areas of your body are not exposed. Additionally, one of our dental professionals will place a lead apron over your body to protect it from stray radiation.